The Federation of Independent Practitioner Organisations (FIPO) is a medical organisation representing the majority of the medical professional's organisations in Britain that have private practice committees.

FIPO was formed in 2000 to provide an overarching body for the many specialist and other medical committees acting on behalf of the profession in the independent sector. FIPO will thus provide guidance, policies and co-ordination to these medical organisations. FIPO seeks to work constructively with all independent hospital providers and the private medical insurance industry and hopefully together to advance the cause of independent healthcare.

In light of FIPO’s new constitutional structure, Mr. Richard Packard, Chairman of FIPO, would like to welcome the new Executive Board of Directors:

 

Executive Board of Directors

Mr. Richard Packard, Chairman

Mr. Ian McDermott, Vice Chairman

Mr. Charlie Chan, Director

Mr. Neil Orpen, Director

Ms. Rosemary Hittinger, Board Member

 

Mr. Richard Packard, Chairman MD DO FRCS FRCOphth

Richard Packard is a senior consultant at Arnott Eye Associates in London. He was consultant surgeon at the Prince Charles Eye Unit in Windsor from 1982-2016. He has been in private practice since 1981 in London and Berkshire.

Since 2007 he has been involved with the Federation of Independent Practitioner Organisations and since 2010 has been its deputy chairman. He is now FIPO chairman. He has been involved with the CMA report on private practice and the ramifications of this for the profession.

Prior to this, Richard was:

  • Chairman of the Association of Ophthalmologists from 2007-2011; and
  • Founding member of AOOSIS in 2012 and its first chairman.

 

Mr. Ian McDermott, Vice Chairman MB BS MS FRCS (Tr & Orth) FFSEM (UK)

Ian is a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon specialising purely in knees. Ian was a Consultant in the NHS but in 2007 he entered full-time private practice. Ian founded the London Sports Orthopaedics practice, which is now one of the UK’s most successful private orthopaedics practices, based in the heart of The City of London.

Ian has had extensive experience in representing his colleagues and his profession:

  • When he was a trainee, Ian was the President of The British Orthopaedic Trainees Association (BOTA).
  • Ian was then the youngest ever surgeon to be elected as a Council Member and Trustee of the Royal College of Surgeons, and he was the Chairman of the RCSEng Medical Students’ Liaison Committee
  • Ian has sat on the Orthopaedic Subcommittee of the CCSC of the BMA, and as a representative on The Council of the BOA, the Council of the RCSEd and the Council of the Faculty of Sport & Exercise Medicine.
  • Ian has been a Board Member of FIPO since 2004, and he was elected a Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of FIPO in 2018.

In his clinical practice, Ian specialises in complex knee cases, major soft tissue reconstructions and custom-made knee replacement surgery:

  • Ian has ‘Centre of Excellence’ status from Hospital Innovations for meniscal allograft transplantation surgery.
  • Ian also has ‘Centre of Excellence’ status from Vivostat for pioneering the use of biological glues in knee surgery in the UK.
  • Ian was the first surgeon in the UK to implant a Conformis custom-made knee, and he is now part of the Conformis Surgical Visitation Program, training surgeons from across the UK in the techniques required for custom-made knee surgery.

Ian also still maintains very active academic interests as well:

  • Ian is an Honorary Professor Associate in the School of Sport & Education at Brunel University.
  • Ian is the President of the UK Biological Knee Society
  • Ian is a Trustee of the Sports Orthopaedics Research Foundation